Kitaabut-Tawheed of Shaikh ul Islaam Muhammad ibn Abdil Wahhaab - Part 1

Kitaabut-Tawheed of Shaikh ul Islaam Muhammad ibn Abdil Wahhaab - Part 1 Explained By Ash-Shaykhul-'Allaamah Abdullaah Al-Ghudayaan Shaykh 'Abdullaah Al-Ghudayyaan began in the name of Allaah and all praise is for Allaah, and may Allaah extol and send peace upon the most noblest of the creation, our Prophet Muhammad (Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam), and upon his Companions and his true followers. Then he said, to proceed the lesson tonight will be with regard to Tawheed, and the book that we will study is Kitaab ut-tawheed ( the book of Tawheed), and in this particular night we will study the first chapter of the Book of Tawheed. The approach that we will take in the lessons will be as follows: We will read the text, Then we will explain the meaning of the words in the text, Then we will give the overall meaning of the text, Then we will explain how the text fits into the particular chapter, Then we will explain the points of benefit that can be taken from that text, whether the text is from the Qur aan or the Sunnah or from the narrations from the Companions or from the Taabi een. So we will explain that which can be taken from the text from benefit. This is the approach that we will adopt, mention the text, explain what needs to be explained, then explain the overall general meaning, and then say how the text fits into the chapter, and then explain the ruling that can be extracted from that text. So Shaykh Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhaab called this book Kitaab ut-tawheed, meaning it is a book written as an explanation of the topic of Tawheed. Tawheed, it is the affair that Allaah has made binding and obligatory upon the whole of His creation, so this book is an explanation of that Tawheed, and it is an explanation of that which will negate Tawheed or reduce it, that which will totally remove it in its very origin from shirk, so an explanation of shirk which will oppose and break Tawheed. So the book explains that which will totally undermine the very origin of Tawheed, and it explains those things that will take away the completeness of its foundation, or those things which negate its perfection which is obligatory, or those thing which will negate its completion that is recommended. All of those things are explained in this book. Tawheed is of 3 categories: 1. Tawheed ur-ruboobiyyah (Tawheed of Lordship) 2. Tawheed ul-uloohiyyah (Tawheed of Allaah s right to all worship) 3. Tawheed ul-asmaa Was-Sifaat (Tawheed of Allaah s Names and Attributes) As for Tawheed ur-ruboobiyyah (Tawheed of Lordship), then it is the Tawheed of Allaah (The Mighty and Majestic) with regard to His actions. Meaning the Tawheed www.al-athariyyah.com 1

of Lordship is with regard to the actions of Allaah, such as His creating, His giving provision, His giving life, His giving death and so on. As for Tawheed ul-uloohiyyah (Tawheed of Allaah s right to all worship), then it is Tawheed of Allaah (The Mighty and Majestic) with regard to the actions of the servants, with regard to their worship, that they worship Him alone, and they commit no shirk with Him (they do not worship anyone else along with Him). As for Tawheed ul-asmaa Was-Sifaat (Tawheed of Allaah s Names and Attributes), Then that is Tawheed with regard to Allaah s Self and His Names and His Attributes as befits His Majesty, There is nothing like Him and He is the all-hearing the all- Seeing. As for Tawheed ur-ruboobiyyah, then this was what the mushrikoon (those who worshipped besides Him) agreed to (Tawheed of Allaah s Lordship), however this acknowledgement of theirs of Allaah s Lordship did not benefit them, because they were not upon Tawheed ul-uloohiyyah. The dispute that occurred between the messengers and the nations to whom they were sent to was Al-Uloohiyyah (Tawheed of Allaah s right to all worship). Therefore we find many aayah s in the Qur aan affirming that the people of shirk, they used to affirm Ar-Ruboobiyyah (Allaah s Lordship), so upon this basis the author compiled and wrote this book, to make clear the true reality of Tawheed and it s meaning. Chapter 1 At-Tawheed (the oneness of Allaah) The First Daleel (proof): And I (Allaah ) created not the jinns and men except they should worship Me (alone). (51:56) Shaykh Al-Ghudayyaan said that this aayah contains an explanation of the wisdom behind the creation of Jinn and mankind and this wisdom was that Allaah brought them into existence, He created them to worship Allaah alone, and not to associate anything along with him. As for: Illa - Only for the purpose. This limitation is a reality that is meant (it is a real limitation). General meaning of the aayah: It is not permitted for mankind or jinn (whoever they maybe), them to direct any worship to other than Allaah. Relevance of the aayah to the chapter: This aayah shows the obligation of Tawheed. The obligation of singling out Allaah for all worship, because He is the Creator who created them, and He created them for that purpose. 1. It shows the obligation for singling out Allaah for all worship, and that nothing else besides Him be worshipped at all. www.al-athariyyah.com 2

2. It contains the explanation of the wisdom behind Allaah creating the creation ( He created them for the purpose of worshipping Him alone). 3. The Creator, He is the one who deserves worship, alone. This contains a refutation of those who worship anything else besides Him. 4. It shows Allaah s total independence of all of the creation. His self sufficiency and independence of the whole of the creation. And it explains the great need that the creation have for Allaah. 5. It contains affirmation of Allaah s hikmah (wisdom) in all of His actions. The Second Daleel: And verily, We have sent among every ummah (community, nation) a messenger (proclaiming): Worship Allaah (alone), and avoid (or keep away from) Taaghut (all false deities etc. i.e. do not worship Taaghut besides Allaah). (16:36) Shaykh Al-Ghudayyaan said as for: Ba athnaa - means We sent. Fee kulli ummah - Every nation means in every group of people, every generation, every century. Rasoolan - A messenger, means someone who has wahi (revelation and legislation) sent to him, and he is commanded to propagate that to the people. As for the meaning of a nabi (prophet), it is someone who has revelation and legislation sent to him, but he is not ordered to propagate the legislation to the people. So the difference between the two is that a nabi is one who has revelation sent to him, but he is not commanded to propagate the revealed law to the people, where as a messenger is one who receives revelation and he is commanded to propagate the legislation to the people. As for the number of the messengers who were sent are 313. As for the number of the prophets, then they were 114,000 in number. U buduw - worship, meaning single Him out with worship, and do not commit any shirk (do not associate anything else in worship with Him). Wajtanibuw - and keep away from, and be separate from, and do not commit any shirk. Taaghut - It is everyone/everything which is worshipped besides Allaah, whether it be a tree, or a rock or a human. General meaning of the aayah: Allaah (praised be He the Most High) informs that He has sent to every group of people, and every generation and century of people He has sent a messenger and that this messenger was from them, as occurs in the aayah which Shaykh Al- Ghudayyaan mentioned, And We did not send any messenger except that he came www.al-athariyyah.com 3

speaking the tongue (language) of his people. And this messenger who was sent to each nation called them to the worship of Allaah alone, and warned them against attributing anything else with him in worship. So therefore Allaah (praised be He the Most High), continued sending messengers commanding that the people should Allaah alone, forbidding the people from shirk, from the first of the messengers Nooh (peace be upon him), right until the last of them Muhammad (Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam). As is known with regard to the previous messengers, each messenger was sent only to a particular people ( to his own people). This is why we sometimes find two messengers who are sent at the same time and each one to their own particular people, as we find with regard to Ibraaheem (peace be upon him) and Loot (peace be upon him). As for Muhammad (Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam), then he was sent to all of mankind and the evidence for this the Shaykh mentioned the aayah, And We have not sent you except to all of mankind, as a bringer of glad tidings to those who believe and as a warner to those who reject. And likewise the Messenger of Allaah (Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) said, I have been sent to all the red people and the black people, to all, whereas every prophet before was sent only to his own people. Likewise when the Messenger (Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) saw a page from the Torah in the hand of Umar ibn Al-Khattaab (may Alllah be pleased with him) the Prophet (Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) said to him O Umar do you have any doubt, what is this? Are you in doubt O Umar ibn Al-Khattaab? Even if Moosa himself were here then he would have no choice except to follow what I have been sent with. And likewise as is known when Eesa (peace be upon him) comes down at the end of time he will judge by the legislation revealed to Muhammad (Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam). Relevance of the hadeeth to the chapter: It is that the call to Tawheed and the forbiddance of shirk was the role of every single messenger, and it is the role of those who the true followers as well. 1. The wisdom behind the sending of the messengers was the call to Tawheed, to Allaah alone being worshipped, and the forbiddance of anything being associated with Him in worship i.e. the forbiddance of shirk. 2. The religion of all of the messengers was one and the same, even though the individual specific laws varied from prophet to prophet, meaning they were all upon Tawheed. 3. Messengership (sending of messengers) covered every nation, meaning messengers came to every nation to establish the proof upon them. So the proof was indeed established on every nation. Shaykh Al-Ghudayyaan mentioned a number of aayah s, the first of them, When the people will come on the Day of Resurrection, then the gates of Hellfire will be opened, and the unbelievers will be forced through the gates of the Hellfire, and it will be said, didn t messengers come to you? Warning you. and they will say yes indeed, but we rejected them....... Likewise there occurs in Soorah Al-Mulk, Whenever a group of people are thrown into the fire, then it will be said to them, Didn t a warner come to you?, so they will say, yes, a warner came to us but we denied him and if only we had used our www.al-athariyyah.com 4

intellect and listened. The Shaykh said that the meaning is that no one will enter the fire unless the proof has been established over them. 4. This shows how tremendous Tawheed is, and that it is obligatory on every nation. Tawheed will not be correctly established except by singling out Allaah with all worship, and by abandoning committing any shirk along with him. As for pure affirmation, or pure denial then this will not benefit, meaning, affirmation of worship without negation of worship for those that do not deserve it will not benefit. So neither of these will benefit without the other. Affirmation of worship for the one who deserves it, which is Allaah (praised be He the Most High), and the negation of it from everyone else besides Him. Both of these are essential. The Third Daleel: And Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him. And that you be dutiful to your parents. If one of them or both of them attain old age in your life, say not to them a word of disrespect, nor shout at them but address them in terms of honour. And lower unto them the wing of submission and humility through mercy, and say: My Lord! Bestow on them Your mercy as they did bring me up when I was small. (17:23,24) The Shaykh continued with the third aayah. As for : Qadaa - It means commanded or enjoined, and what is meant here by the qadaa is that Allaah commanded in a legislative sense, making it an obligation in the religion, because al-qadaa, Allaah s decrees are of two categories Qadaa Ash-Shar ee (Allaah decrees something meaning He legislates something in the religion) and Qadaa Al- Kawnee (Allaah s universal decree, meaning Allaah s decrees what will occur in the creation). What is meant in this verse is the first type. Rabbuka - Your Lord, then Ar-Rabb, (the Lord) means, the Owner, the One who controls with right, the One who nurtures the whole of the creation with the blessings that He bestows upon them ( the apparent blessings and the hidden blessings). Illa iyyahu - Except for Him alone, meaning you only worship Him alone and you do not worship anything else besides him. Wa bilwaalidaini ihsaanan - You treat your parents with goodness, meaning, and He has commanded and ordained that you treat your parents well, and you do not treat them badly. Just as He has decreed and ordered that you worship Him alone, He has likewise ordered to treat your parents in a good manner. General meaning of the aayah: Allaah (praised be He the Most High) informs that He has commanded and enjoined on the tongues of His messengers that all the creation should worship Him alone www.al-athariyyah.com 5

and not worship anything along with Him and that the children should treat their parents well, with sayings and actions and should not behave badly toward them in any sense, whether it be in sayings or actions or so on, because the parents are the ones who brought the child up when the child was small and weak, they looked after him and brought him up until he grew up and attained his strength. Relevance of the aayah to the chapter: It shows that Tawheed is the most emphasised of all rights, and the greatest of all obligations, and He did not begin except with that which was the most important. 1. It shows that Tawheed is the first thing that is commanded, and it is the first obligation upon the person. 2. The saying None has the right to be worshipped except Allaah, it contains affirmation and it contains denial, meaning that Tawheed will not be established without these two (a negation of worship to everything besides Allaah, and that there is affirmation of worship for Allaah alone). 3. It shows the tremendous right of the parents, because Allaah (praised be He the Most High), joined their right to His right with the waw al-atf (and), Allaah decreed that we worship Him alone and He has decreed that we treat our parents well, so this shows how tremendous the rights of the parents are. 4. It shows the obligation of treating the parents well in all aspects, whether it be by sayings, by actions, or with your wealth or whatever else. And that you withhold from them any type of bad treatment, whether it be by sayings, actions or with wealth or whatever else. 5. It shows the prohibition of disobedience or bad treatment of the parents. The Fourth Daleel: Worship Allaah and join none with Him in worship (4:36) The Shaykh (Hafidhahullaah ta aala) continued with the fourth aayah. As for: Laa tushriku - Do not commit shirk, then this is a prohibition of shirk, and shirk means to equate anything besides Allaah with Allaah. So it is with regard to those things that are the right of Allaah (praised be He the Most High). Shay an - Anything, and this word is left indefinite, and it is in the context of a prohibition, it means a total prohibition, because when a word is left indefinite in a context of a denial or negation or in a condition or in a question it means it applies to that the word can apply to (it is general). The way in which it is general here is that you do not commit any shirk, any shirk whatsoever, whether it be major shirk or whether it be minor shirk, it applies to all of that. General meaning of the aayah: www.al-athariyyah.com 6

It is that Allaah (praised be He the Most High) has commanded His servants that they should worship him alone and not associate anything in worship with Him and He forbids them from shirk. Allaah did not specify any particular type of worship, like prayer or fasting, so that it would be general and cover all types of worship. Likewise He did not specify any specific type of shirk, so the forbiddance covers all types of shirk, major shirk and minor shirk and hidden shirk. Relevance of the aayah to the chapter: It is that the aayah begins with the command for Tawheed, and a forbiddance of shirk. So this aayah is an explanation of Tawheed, that Tawheed means the worship of Allaah alone, and the avoidance of any shirk (that is the meaning of Tawheed). 1. It shows the obligation of singling out Allaah with all ibaadah (worship), because Allaah commanded that to begin with. i.e. Tawheed. 2. It shows that shirk is haraam (prohibited), because Allaah forbade it in this aayah, and when He forbids something it means that it becomes haraam (totally forbidden ). 3. A negation of shirk is a condition for worship being acceptable. So if a servant worships Allaah with all different forms of worship but commits shirk, his worship will not be acceptable, as was mentioned in the aayah (at the end of surah Al-Kahf) with the explanation, So whoever has hope with regard to the meeting with His Lord then let him work righteous deeds, and not associate anything in worship with his Lord. And likewise as occurs in the hadeeth Qudsi, that the messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) mentioned that his Lord said, I am the One who has no need whatsoever of any associates, so whoever associates anything with me in worship I will abandon him and his shirk. 4. It shows that shirk is haraam (totally forbidden), whether it be a small amount of shirk or a great amount of shirk (major shirk or minor shirk). 5. It is not permissible to direct worship to anyone else besides Allaah. Not to any angel drawn close, not to any chosen prophet, not to any righteous man, not to any idol and not to anything else in the creation. It is not permissible to direct worship to any of that, because the term shay an covers everything (i.e. don t do shirk with anything). The Fifth Daleel: Say (O Muhammad Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam ): Come, I will recite what your Lord has prohibited you from: Join not anything in worship with Him; be good and dutiful to your parents; kill not your children because of poverty- We provide sustenance for you and for them; come not near to shameful sins (illegal sexual intercourse, etc.) whether committed openly or secretly, and kill not anyone whom Allaah has forbidden, except for a just cause (according to Islamic law). This He has commanded you that you may understand. And come not near to the orphans property, except to improve it, until he (or she) attains the age of full strength; and give full measure and full weight with justice. We www.al-athariyyah.com 7

burden not any person, but that which he can bear. And whenever you give your word (i.e. judge between men or give evidence, etc.), say the truth even if a near relative is concerned, and fulfil the covenant of Allaah. This He commands you, that you may remember. And verily, this is My straight path, so follow it, and follow not (other) paths, for they will separate you away from His path. This He has ordained for you that you may become al-muttaqoon (the pious). (6:151-153) The Shaykh (may Allaah preserve him) said that as for: Ta aalaw - then it means come/come forward. Atlu - then it means I will tell you/i will narrate to you. Harrama - then it means He has made something forbidden, He has prohibited it. Forbiddance means that which if a person does it, he will be punished if he did it deliberately. So he is liable to punishment if he did the action deliberately, and if he avoids it then he would be rewarded for avoiding it. Al aayaat - The meaning of the author saying this means to the end of the three aayaat. General meaning of the ayaah: It is that Allaah (praised be He the Most High) in this aayah commands the Prophet (Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) that he should say to those idol worshippers and those who killed their children, in obedience to their vain desires, inspired by shaytaan, and as they wished by that to draw closer to their idols and objects of worship. Then he was commanded to say to these mushriks, Come, I will tell you what your Lord has truly forbidden, not out of guesswork like you people make things forbidden, but rather I will tell you on the basis of revelation which He has sent down. Then he told them these ten commands which followed in the three aayaat (ten things which were forbidden). Which are: 1. That you do not associate anything in worship along with Him. This is a forbiddance of shirk generally (an overall forbiddance). It forbids worship being directed to anyone else besides Allaah, and it forbids it for the one that worship is being directed to. 2. That you treat the parents well, and in a good manner, with every meaning of goodness towards them and that you obey them except in something which is in disobedience to Allaah. 3. That you do not kill your children for fear of poverty, meaning you don t bury your daughters alive, for indeed Allaah has guaranteed that He will provide for your children just as He provides provision for you, because you people do not actually provide for your children with the provision yourselves, and you cannot even provide for yourselves, rather it is Allaah who provides for you and your children. So do not kill your children. Likewise it occurs in the hadeeth qudsi that the Messenger of Allaah (Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) said that Allaah (praised be He the Most High) said, Every one of you is naked except for those I provide clothing for, so www.al-athariyyah.com 8

seek clothing from me and I will provide the clothing, and every single one of you is hungry except for those that I provide food for, so seek your provision from Me. 4. Do not approach foul, evil sins, meaning sins, all of them, the apparent and the hidden. 5. Do not kill the soul which you are not allowed to kill, meaning don t kill a soul without right. The Shaykh mentioned that this shows the prohibition of killing a soul, without right. Either if they are a believer or if they are non- Muslims if they have a treaty with the Muslims, and the person that can be killed is in a just retaliatory punishment, or a person who has been married before and commits fornication, or a person who becomes a Muslim then he apostatises. 6. Taking or seizing wrongfully the wealth of an orphan. The orphan is the child whose father has died, meaning that you should take care of his wealth in a good manner, you should guard it, look after it and cause it to grow and increase and not violate it in any way. As was mentioned in the other aayah with the explanation, so test the orphans to see when they have attained discernment and right guidance. Meaning until they can look after their wealth themselves, and test them until such time that they can deal properly with their own wealth. 7. The seventh matter that s prohibited in the aayah is with regard to weights and measures, and don t be unjust with regard to weights and measures. The Shaykh said meaning if you have things which you need to buy and sell with weights and measures, then you do so with justice and you do not oppress the people in that regard. As is mentioned in the aayah with the explanation, and do not infringe the peoples rights with regard to their things, and likewise woe to those who infringe the people, those who when they take from the people take more than their right, and when they give they give less. 8. The thing enjoined is the command with justice, and justice is general here, covering justice with regard to wealth, sayings and actions. That you treat all the people the same, whether they are people near to you or distant from you, treat them all with justice. 9. That you fulfil Allaah s covenant. The Shaykh said meaning the covenant contained in these three aayaat (verses), you fulfil that and you keep to that. You have to obey Allaah in what He has commanded you in them by doing what He has ordered in them, and avoid what He has prohibited. That you act upon His commands and prohibitions that occur in the Book (Qur aan) and in the Sunnah. 10. That you follow Allaah s straight path doing what He has commanded here, and the greatest thing that He has commanded is the command of Tawheed, and the greatest thing that He has forbidden here is the prohibition of shirk. So you avoid that, and that it is mentioned here that you avoid all the other paths, because these are paths that are inspired by shaytaan, whatever they may be. Whether it be innovations, false doubts, or any other paths than what occur in the Book or in the Sunnah. Relevance of the aayah to the chapter: www.al-athariyyah.com 9

It is that Allaah has mentioned a number of sins in these aayaat., which He has prohibited. The first and foremost thing that He has prohibited was shirk, because that is the greatest of all sins, and a prohibition of shirk necessitates a command for Tawheed (that you worship Allaah alone). The Shaykh mentioned eight or nine but to be honest I did not write all of them down, but the ones that he caught were: 1. Shirk is the greatest of all forbidden things. 2. It shows the greatness of the rights of the parents. 3. The prohibition of killing those souls who do not deserve to be killed. 4. It shows the great respect that is to be given to the wealth of the orphan. 5. 6. 7. Fulfilling Allaah s covenant. 8. Declaring things forbidden, and declaring thing lawful is the right of Allaah alone. The Sixth Daleel: Ibn Mas ood (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: Whoever wishes to ascertain the very will of Prophet Muhammad (Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) on which the Prophet has put His seal, let him read the statement of Allaah: (6:151-153) Say (O Muhammad Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam): Come, I will recite what your Lord has prohibited you from: Join not anything in worship with Him.... (up to)....and verily, this is My Straight Path. As for: 'Abdullaah ibn Mas ood, then he was 'Abdullaah ibn Mas ood Al-Huthali. He was from the noble Companions, and from the first and foremost Muslims and he was one of the greater scholars amongst the people of knowledge amongst the Companions. He was constantly with the Prophet (Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam), and he died (may Allaah have mercy upon him) in the year 32AH. Al-wasiyyah - The will, then it means something that is left behind as a bequest, and it is actually a command upon which emphasis is placed. Al-khaatim - meaning a ring that is worn, a round piece of metal that is worn, by which letters are sealed. An imprint is made on the letter to give it a seal. General meaning of the aayah: Ibn Mas ood (may Allaah be pleased with him) is stressing the point that Allaah s Messenger (Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) would not enjoin anything, he would not leave a bequest behind except with that which Allaah had commanded. He understood this from the fact that each of these three aayaat is ended by the statement that is what your Lord has made a wasiyyah for you. Each of the www.al-athariyyah.com 10

three aayaat end with this statement that Allaah has made this a wasiyyah for you. The reason why Ibn Mas ood (may Allaah be pleased with him) said this was because some people started stating that every problem that we are suffering is because the Prophet (Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) didn t leave us a final bequest behind. So Ibn Mas ood (may Allaah be pleased with him) heard what they were saying and so he made this point, that if the Prophet (Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) had written a will and a bequest, he would not have written down in it except what Allaah had enjoined, nothing else. So the overall meaning is that the Messenger (Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) will only order that which was ordered be Allaah. 1. It shows the tremendous importance of this bequest. The ten things that Allaah left us as a bequest in these three aayaat. 2. The Messenger (Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) did not leave any bequest behind and did not enjoin anything except that which Allaah (praised be He the Most High) enjoined and made obligatory. 3. This narration shows the depth of the knowledge of the Companions (may Allaah be pleased with them), and the depth of their understanding of the Qur aan and the Sunnah. The Seventh Daleel: It is narrated that Mu aadh bin Jabal (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: I was riding behind the Prophet (Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) on a donkey and he said to me O Mu aadh, do you know what is the right of Allaah on His slaves and what is the right of the slaves upon Allaah? I responded Allaah and His Messenger know best. He continued, The right of Allaah upon His slaves is to worship Him alone and never to associate anything with Him. The right of the slaves upon Him is not to punish any person who does not associate anything with Him. I said O Allaah s Messenger, may I not give the glad tiding to the people? He replied, No. Do not inform them lest they rely on (this promise and lapse in their service to Him. (Al-Bukhaari and Muslim) As for: Mu aadh - Then he was Mu aadh ibn Jabal ibn Amr ibn Aws ibn Ka ab ibn Amr Al-Khazraji Al-Ansaari, from the Khazraj from the Ansaar. He was a noble, a great and a famous Companion, from the prominent Companions. He was like an ocean in knowledge, in the rulings and in the knowledge of the Qur aan. He fought at Badr and at the battles which followed it. On the day of Makkah, then the Prophet (Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) appointed him to teach the people, and later on he sent him as a judge in Yemen. He (may Allaah be pleased with him) died later on in Shaam in the year 18 after the hijrah, at the age of 38. Radeef - It is someone you carry along with you on the same riding beast. A tadree - It means do you know? www.al-athariyyah.com 11

Haq - It is something which is commanded with a binding command. Haqqullah means something which Allaah has commanded with a binding command. Haqqul ibaad - It is that which has written upon Himself to give to the servants, as a favour. Afalaa ubashshir? - Shall I not give the good news to the people? Meaning so that they become happy hearing it. Fayattakiloo - Don t do so, for fear that they might depend upon that. Meaning, for fear that they might just depend upon that and leave off in competing in doing righteous good deeds. General meaning of the aayah: It is that the Prophet (Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) wanted to make clear the obligation of Tawheed upon His servants. So he did so by putting it forth in the form of a question, and this is from the manners of teaching, that you teach something by putting in a question form first, so that it has a greater effect upon the people, and which is better for their understanding. So when he informed Mu aadh, then he sought permission to tell this news to the people, but the Prophet (Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) forbade from that for fear that the people would then just rely upon that and would leave off doing good deeds. Relevance of the aayah to the chapter: This narration gives an explanation of Tawheed. That Tawheed means to worship Allaah alone, and to not worship anything else besides Him. 1. It shows the humility of the Prophet (Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) in the fact that he allowed someone else to ride with him on the same donkey. Contrary to what people with pride do, that they would ride alone and would not let anyone ride along with them. 2. It shows the permissibility of having someone else ride on the riding beast with you, with the condition that the animal is strong enough to bear it. 3. It shows from the manners of teaching is asking questions and answers. 4. Whoever is asked about something to which he does not know the answer to, it is obligatory to make clear that Allaah knows best. 5. It shows the tremendous right of Allaah, which is that He be worshipped alone, and nothing be worshipped along with Him. 6. Whoever does not avoid shirk, he has not worshipped Allaah as He has commanded. 7. It shows the great virtue of Tawheed and the virtue of the people of Tawheed. 8. It shows an explanation of what Tawheed means. It is that we worship Allaah alone and not worship anything along with Him. 9. Seeking to bring good news to cause the Muslims to be happy. www.al-athariyyah.com 12

10. The permissibility of hiding certain matters of knowledge when there is a definite benefit in doing so. 11. It shows adopting good and correct manners with a teacher, as is understood from Mu aadh (may Allaah be pleased with him) that he asked if he could inform the people. www.al-athariyyah.com 13